Useful Searches

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My take? TV has been constantly evolving and moving into the internet. I personally have 4 programs installed on my tablet for watching content online.

To me, a move to buy Hulu (or another company like it) would bolster the DIRECTV Everywhere platform immensely..

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DirecTV needs to do something to survive. As more and more people and content move to the Internet there will be fewer and fewer subscribers for DirecTV. They need to adapt to survive.

Not going to happen overnight but the ever increasing costs of cable and satellite TV are going to force more viewers to the Internet.

The middle-man is going to get squeezed. We no long 'need' anyone to force us into bundled programming. Why does Showtime need to pay DirecTV when they can go directly to subscribers over the Internet?

Agreed with most of what you said, but D* pays Showtime, not the other way around.

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Well... DirecTV takes amount 'A' from subs and pays amount 'B' to Showtime. The difference between the two DirecTV keeps and ads to the bottom line.

I'd personally pay more for and to Showtime than I pay DirecTV for Showtime if I could have access to their programming online without paying DirecTV anything. That would be a double win for Showtime and cut DirecTV out of the loop.

Really the few reasons I have DirecTV at all are: Showtime, Sunday Ticket and convenience. If there was way for me to legally pay for Showtime and Sunday Ticket and not involve DirecTV at all I would cancel my DirecTV today. It's only a matter of time....

Netflix would be the better buy, I think. Would put DTV at the top of the heap across the board.

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Netflix isn't what it was. Hulu is still on the up and up so I think they would be the better buy. Netflix made some bad business choices in the past and I doubt D* would want to go through the effort of repairing relations. At least, I wouldn't.

Draconis said:

To me, a move to buy Hulu (or another company like it) would bolster the DIRECTV Everywhere platform immensely..

DirecTV needs to do something to survive. As more and more people and content move to the Internet there will be fewer and fewer subscribers for DirecTV. They need to adapt to survive.

Not going to happen overnight but the ever increasing costs of cable and satellite TV are going to force more viewers to the Internet.

The middle-man is going to get squeezed. We no long 'need' anyone to force us into bundled programming. Why does Showtime need to pay DirecTV when they can go directly to subscribers over the Internet?

Click to expand...

The thing is, those costs will just shift to the internet. The media companies aren't going to trade dimes for pennies in this landscape.

Showtime doesn't pay DIRECTV, DIRECTV pays Showtime a split...this is how Showtime makes money. And think about it for a second, Directv (or Comcast, or Dish, or Verizon, etc, etc) answers all those calls for Showtime, does all the technical work for Showtime, does all the billing for Showtime, does a tremendous amount of marketing and sales for Showtime (or HBO, or Starz, or NFL, etc, etc) that they do not incur right now. All of these entities would have to establish those costly setups AND they have to rely on the customer wanting to have a separate relationship with Disney, and one iwth A&E, and one with Showtime, and one with Discovery, and one with Fox, and one with Viacom, and one with HBO, and one with Starz, and one with the NFL, and one with Big Ten, etc, etc, etc.

This has a LONG way to go in my opinion and I'm not sure you are going to see the cost savings because I don't believe the content makers are going to make that tradeoff. Just my two cents.

The thing is, those costs will just shift to the internet. The media companies aren't going to trade dimes for pennies in this landscape.

Showtime doesn't pay DIRECTV, DIRECTV pays Showtime a split...this is how Showtime makes money. And think about it for a second, Directv (or Comcast, or Dish, or Verizon, etc, etc) answers all those calls for Showtime, does all the technical work for Showtime, does all the billing for Showtime, does a tremendous amount of marketing and sales for Showtime (or HBO, or Starz, or NFL, etc, etc) that they do not incur right now. All of these entities would have to establish those costly setups AND they have to rely on the customer wanting to have a separate relationship with Disney, and one iwth A&E, and one with Showtime, and one with Discovery, and one with Fox, and one with Viacom, and one with HBO, and one with Starz, and one with the NFL, and one with Big Ten, etc, etc, etc.

This has a LONG way to go in my opinion and I'm not sure you are going to see the cost savings because I don't believe the content makers are going to make that tradeoff. Just my two cents.

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However you want to state it - Showtime charges DirecTV less than they could sell their programming directly to the viewer.

Either way things are moving to the Internet and hopefully DirecTV has a plan.

Sure DirecTV markets and supports Showtime etc... But streaming companies could do the same thing.

It isn't going to happen overnight but there is no question the pay TV model of the 70s and 80s is outdated and is going away. Just take a look at what the 20 something year old kids are doing... How many of them plan on every paying for cable or satellite TV? As the costs of traditional pay TV continue to go insanely up fewer and fewer young people are going to pay...

Does anyone think ISPs are just going to let gigabytes of programming flow through their networks for nothing? Why do you think there are more and more caps being placed on data downloads? What about the VAST areas of the country that don't have sufficiently fast internet service? For these reasons, traditional MCOs will continue to dominate the video entertainment landscape for at least a decade yet.

If Showtime tries to sell their programming directly, they are unlikely to make any more money than they make selling through DirecTV, Dish, Comcast, etc., because they will either have to split the money with the ISPs or price the service to take the bandwidth costs into account so that the bottom line to the viewer is a wash.

Does anyone think ISPs are just going to let gigabytes of programming flow through their networks for nothing? Why do you think there are more and more caps being placed on data downloads? What about the VAST areas of the country that don't have sufficiently fast internet service? For these reasons, traditional MCOs will continue to dominate the video entertainment landscape for at least a decade yet.

If Showtime tries to sell their programming directly, they are unlikely to make any more money than they make selling through DirecTV, Dish, Comcast, etc., because they will either have to split the money with the ISPs or price the service to take the bandwidth costs into account so that the bottom line to the viewer is a wash.

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I don't think that ISPs are going to 'let gigabytes of programming flow for nothing'. In this 'battle' the ISPs are in a great position... Traditional MCOs have to change is the bottom line.

Costs are going up - quality programming is not - in fact I'd say having 40 'reality' TV shows a night is not worth $3 let alone $150 a month. As both the cost of Internet and pay TV continue to climb more and more people are going to have to choose one or the other and I think we all know which the majority of people will pick.

I don't think I'm alone in paying DirecTV mostly out of convenience and a very little programming that I couldn't get online. Sunday Ticket and Showtime are the big ones for me but as costs continue to skyrocket I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to pay.

If I could get Showtime online I'd personally pay 2 or 3 times what I pay for Showtime through DirecTV but that's just me...

Don't overlook that there are large numbers of people who'll pay a premium for the PQ and convenience of big boy delivery. I will not watch anything on my HiRez computers if I can see it on an actual TV.

The twenty somethings, not all of whom are streaming now, BTW, will eventually migrate the the higher quality delivery. Of course, some will not. Some will never watch TV. Some will have their own HMCs, and all in between.

Don't overlook that there are large numbers of people who'll pay a premium for the PQ and convenience of big boy delivery. I will not watch anything on my HiRez computers if I can see it on an actual TV.

The twenty somethings, not all of whom are streaming now, BTW, will eventually migrate the the higher quality delivery. Of course, some will not. Some will never watch TV. Some will have their own HMCs, and all in between.

Look at DIRECTV's numbers for subscribers.

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Good point on picture quality... I suppose I'm in that boat also.

It looks like DirecTV's growth has slowed and the cable companies are shrinking. I think the market is pretty much saturated and will likely not get much bigger - and will soon start to slide....

It looks like DirecTV's growth has slowed and the cable companies are shrinking. I think the market is pretty much saturated and will likely not get much bigger - and will soon start to slide....

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If Samsung's development of a way faster IP comes to fruition, yes, the slide will be visible. Otherwise, DIRECTV will continue to add from former cable subs, though at modest rates. At some point, growth in adult population will be the only thing that drives higher subs, as I agree we are near saturation.

I am finding the older I get the less TV I watch. I am 61 and not in the demagraphic the shows are made for any longer. I have helped friends "cut the cord" and go to what ever they can find for free OTA or on the internet. I even know some younger (30's) folks who have done this. The cost of having a HD DVR and a programming package is driving a lot of folks back to basics. Newspapers and magazines have seen this happen and I think DirecTV and the others have to change or watch their number go down.